Strawberry Gelato is one of the most loved Italian fruit gelato flavors.
When spring arrives and strawberries are in season—ripe, juicy, and naturally sweet—there’s nothing better than a scoop of fresh strawberry gelato. And it’s even more satisfying when you make it at home!
This homemade strawberry gelato recipe is quick and easy, made without eggs and without cooking. All you need are four simple ingredients: fresh strawberries, whole milk, heavy cream, and sugar.
To get the best results, focus on the quality of your ingredients. Use whole fresh milk—avoid skimmed, long-life, or powdered milk—and choose high-quality heavy cream. Most importantly, use fresh, ripe strawberries, ideally in season. They have a much better flavor than greenhouse-grown strawberries available year-round.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you how to make creamy, delicious Italian strawberry gelato at home—with or without an ice cream maker.
Ingredients
WITH Ice Cream Maker:
- Prep Time: 45 Min (about 10 min of preparation + about 30/40 min in the ice cream maker)
- Cook Time: without cooking
- Servings: 6 people that is about 750 g (5 cups) of Strawberry Gelato
WITHOUT Ice Cream Maker:
- Prep Time: 5 H + 10 min (about 10 minutes of preparation + cooling in the freezer for about 5 H)
- Cook time: without cooking
- Servings: 6 people that is about 750 g (5 cups) of Strawberry Gelato
- 400 g (14 oz) of ripe strawberries
- 150 g (¾ cup) of granulated sugar
- 250 ml (1 cup) of whole milk
- 250 ml (1 cup) of heavy cream
Kitchen Tools and Equipment
Gelatiera (Ice Cream Maker)
The most useful tool for making authentic Italian gelato is for sure an ice cream maker or Gelatiera. There are various types of Gelato makers, but the best is the one that has a compressor that cools while churning the Gelato.
Let's have a look at some of them:
- The best performing gelato machine is Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker. It's made entirely in Italy, easy to use and perfect for professional results at home. Small, with a large, non-removable bowl. The spatula is made of stainless steel. It has a powerful and robust refrigeration system to achieve professional performance without pre-cooling.
- Another high-performance ice cream maker is the Whynter ICM-200LS Automatic Ice Cream Maker (built-in compressor, no pre-freezing). You can create terrific gelato in the comfort of your own home. This high capacity unit makes up to two quarts of your favorite frozen dessert in a single batch.
- Other types of gelato makers, without a compressor, plan to keep the special container of the machine in the freezer many hours ahead of time to cool the ingredients. Among these we recommend Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker which in our opinion is inexpensive and practical.
Other Kitchen Tools
- If you want to make gelato without an ice cream maker, the result is still good if you follow our recipe well. In this case, it's useful a gelato container. You need it in any case, even if you don't eat immediately all the gelato, even if you make your strawberry gelato with the ice cream maker.
- Necessary to make strawberry puree is a blender or an immersion mixer.
- Other accessories that you can use to serve your homemade gelato can be the tool to make the gelato scoops or the handy scoops to make sundaes of gelato. Finally the waffle cones that kids (and adults, why not!) love so much!
Instructions
So first, we are going to show you how to make Gelato WITH the ice cream maker. Then we'll show you how to make gelato WITHOUT an ice cream maker.
Making gelato without an ice cream maker takes more time and more patience but your homemade strawberry gelato will be as good as the one bought in an Italian Gelateria!
How to Make Strawberry Gelato WITH Ice Cream Maker
Step 1) - To make homemade strawberry ice cream, start by washing and drying the strawberries thoroughly. Remove the stalk and, if present, any damaged or unripe parts.
Step 2) - Cut the strawberry into pieces and put them in a blender or in the container of an immersion blender and blend the strawberries well, until you have a smooth puree. Check that no large chunks remain.
Step 3) - Pour the strawberry puree into a bowl and add the sugar.
Step 4) - Then add the heavy cream and finally the whole milk. Mix thoroughly with a spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Step 5a) - At this step, pour the mixture into the basket of the ice cream maker, close and start it. After about 40 minutes (the time may vary depending on the model of the machine) your strawberry gelato will be ready! Sweet, fresh and creamy. You just have to taste it!
PLEASE NOTE: The best ice cream maker you can find on the market is the one with a compressor that cools while churning the gelato. This ice cream maker is very similar to the professional ones and is the one we used for this recipe.
How to Make Strawberry Gelato WITHOUT Ice Cream Maker
If you don't have a gelato maker, don't worry! It takes more time (5 hours instead of about 40 minutes) and more work but the result is still exceptional! Let's see how to do it!
Step 5b) - Follow carefully the above steps, from 1 to 4, then pour the strawberry mixture into a gelato container and place it in the refrigerator. Let it cool for about ½ an hour.
Then transfer in the freezer and let it freeze for about 5 hours. EVERY 30 MINUTES you have to break the frozen surface. So remove from the freezer and mix for about 30 seconds using a hand whisk or an electric whisk on low speed.
This step is necessary in order not to create ice crystals in the gelato and have a creamy result. Of course, this is a slightly more labor-intensive process, but it's well worth it. In the end, you are sure to have a terrific authentic Italian Strawberry Gelato!
If you want to make an even creamier strawberry gelato, read the paragraph below "How to Make Creamy Strawberry Gelato WITHOUT an Ice Cream Maker".
YOU MUST ALSO TRY:
- How to Make Authentic Italian Gelato at Home
- Strawberry Tiramisù Recipe
- Strawberry Semifreddo with Pastry Cream and Meringue
- Strawberry Sorbet Recipe
- Stracciatella Gelato Recipe
- Strawberry Cake
- Strawberry Risotto Recipe
Storage
You can store strawberry ice cream in the freezer for about ten days. Remember to take it out about ten minutes before serving.
Tips and Tricks
There are many different qualities of strawberries: some are smooth, others have many hard seeds embossed on the surface. These seeds in gelato can be annoying. To solve this problem, simply run the strawberry puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove them easily.
If you want to get a slightly less sweet taste with a touch of sourness, you can add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the mixture.
For contrasting textures and colors, you can add strawberry pieces to the gelato. Add the fresh strawberry pieces just before serving the gelato and not during its preparation. This is because the strawberry pieces will freeze and be very hard in the mouth and then release water, ruining the creaminess of the gelato.
How to Serve Strawberry Gelato
Strawberry gelato goes very well with fior di latte gelato and chocolate gelato and, of course, with all fruit flavors.
However, the most delicious pairing is still with whipped cream.
How to Make it CREAMIER! (WITHOUT an Ice Cream Maker)
If you have an ice cream maker with a compressor that cools while it blends the ice cream, the problem doesn't exist. The sugar and cream in the mixture, combined with the work of the machine, will give you a decidedly smooth and creamy ice cream.
If, on the other hand, you don't have an ice cream maker, the process is a bit more complicated and laborious (as we showed you in step 5b).
Now we suggest a trick to obtain a creamy ice-cream more easily: add a very ripe banana, of medium size, to the strawberries. In fact, the banana is rich in pectin, a natural thickener, which gives creaminess to the gelato.
It will be a slightly more caloric ice cream but definitely tasty and creamy.
In any case, whether you have made the gelato with an ice cream maker or without, we recommend that you take it out of the freezer about 10/15 minutes before eating it.
In fact, homemade fruit ice creams are very creamy as soon as they are made, but unfortunately they tend to harden in the freezer.
Recipe Card
Strawberry Gelato Recipe (Authentic Italian Style)
Ingredients
- 400 g fresh strawberries - 14 oz
- 150 g granulated sugar - ¾ cup
- 250 ml whole milk - 1 cup
- 250 ml heavy cream - 1 cup
Instructions
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY GELATO WITH ICE CREAM MAKER
- To make strawberry gelato at home, start by washing and drying the strawberries thoroughly. Remove the stalk and, if present, any damaged or unripe parts.
- Cut the strawberry into pieces and put them in a blender or in the container of an immersion blender and blend the strawberries well, until you have a smooth puree. Check that no large chunks remain.
- Pour the strawberry puree into a bowl and add the sugar.
- Add the heavy cream and finally the whole milk. Mix thoroughly with a spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- At this step, pour the mixture into the basket of the ice cream maker, close and start it. After about 40 minutes (the time may vary depending on the model of the machine) your strawberry gelato will be ready! Sweet, fresh and creamy. You just have to taste it!
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY GELATO WITHOUT ICE CREAM MAKER
- Follow carefully the above steps, from 1 to 4, then pour the strawberry mixture into a gelato container and place it in the refrigerator. Let it cool for about ½ an hour.
- Then transfer in the freezer and let it freeze for about 5 hours.
- EVERY 30 MINUTES you have to break the frozen surface. So remove from the freezer and mix for about 30 seconds using a hand whisk or an electric whisk on low speed. This step is necessary in order not to create ice crystals in the gelato and have a creamy result.
Sarah says
What is the best way to store gelato so that ice crystals don’t form? We ate some right after churning, but put the rest in our freezer. The consistency changed and was more icy which was disappointing.
Silvana Nava says
Thank you Sarah for your comment! You're right — homemade gelato is at its best right after churning, when it's fresh and creamy. Once you store it in the freezer, the texture can change and become a bit icy, which is totally normal since it doesn’t contain the stabilizers found in commercial gelato.
To help maintain a smooth texture, it's a good idea to transfer the gelato into an airtight container in the coldest part of your freezer — usually the back — where the temperature stays more stable.
When you're ready to enjoy it again, take it out of the freezer and let it sit at room temperature for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then, before serving, give it a quick stir with a whisk or a spoon to help restore that creamy texture — it really makes a difference!
Anita says
Oh boy! Can’t wait to make this. Do you happen to have a hazelnut gelato recipe? Got hooked on that on my first trip to Italy. Would love to create some here.
Thank you
Guido says
Hello! I’ve tried your vanilla and coffee gelato recipes- delicious!
I’d like to try this one next but just to clarify, there’s no need to heat up the milk/mixture? You just mix it all together and then transfer to the machine?
Silvana Nava says
Hi Guido,
Milk or milk and heavy cream mixture is brought almost to a boil (85°-90°) to pasteurize eggs. Or to better dissolve any powdered ingredients or sugars.
Where eggs are not present and especially in fruit ice creams that have a high sugar component, which promotes thickening, there is no need to heat the mixture.
Thank you for your observation. Have a great day!
Julia says
Very good recipe. Make sure your strawberries are nice and ripe! I have also used the base to make mango gelato, which was great as well.
Sharon says
This recipe works really well. This method is so much easier than making a custard. I found the flavor of the mixture a bit flat, though. I found it benefited tremendously from a pinch of salt and a hit of triple sec, about 2.5 tablespoons. The alcohol will also keep it from freezing quite so hard. Other liqueurs would certainly work but I do love the combination of the orange scent with the strawberries.
Mimi of 2 says
Thank you for the strawberry gelato recipe and the courage to give it a try! I followed the recipe except I replaced the sugar with Classic Monk-fruit Sweetener with Allulose. Awesome flavor and creamy gelato texture!
Brenda Tokash says
Absolutely delicious! Found this recipe today and made it tonight. I now need to go buy more fresh picked strawberries so I can make it again.
Nancy Hammersla says
Why don’t you have to use non fat powdered milk? Most call for it.
Barbara says
Hi Nancy,
To make an amazing dish you have to use amazing ingredients, whatever the recipe. This is our motto. There's nothing better than fresh milk to make gelato, especially high-quality fresh whole milk. Of course, it's not forbidden to use powdered milk. But we always show you the top recipe. To lower the bar there is always time....
Amanda says
I been using thick raw cream and raw milk to make this. Its is absolutely amazing. The better the ingredients, the better the end product. Thank you for this website xx
Troy says
If I wanted to use a different fruit, say watermelon or cantaloupe, would the proportions be the same, or would you need to make adjustments?
Barbara says
Hi Troy,
Changing the fruit changes the ingredients because of the amount of liquid in the fruit, amount of sugar, etc. We recommend that you follow the appropriate recipe based on your chosen fruit.
Miley says
Can you use frozen strawberries in this recipe?
Barbara says
Hi Miley,
as a general rule, for any recipe, it's always best to use fresh, seasonal ingredients. So even for strawberry gelato it would be best to use fresh strawberries. Especially since it's the main ingredient for this recipe. If you want an amazing result, you have to use top quality ingredients!
Miley says
Thank you for your quick response! Can't wait to try this recipe!
Sindhu Veluthakkal says
I was wondering how you decide on the quantity of milk and cream. In fior di latte gelato recipe, you used 350 ml milk and 250 ml cream. here you are using 250 ml for milk and cream. Please help me out.
Barbara says
Hi Sindhu!
Thank you for your comment.
In fior di latte gelato, the main ingredient is milk. There are no other ingredients other than cream and sugar. So more milk. In strawberry gelato, the main ingredient are strawberries. So more strawberries, less milk. You'll find the same proportion of ingredients in the chocolate gelato recipe: more chocolate, less milk.
Make strawberry gelato as described in the recipe and then enjoy!;-D